Kelly Oubre Jr. expresses frustration after Sixers fall to Heat at home
PHILADELPHIA — It was a tough night on Wednesday for Kelly Oubre Jr. and the Philadelphia 76ers as they fell to the Miami Heat 109-104. The Sixers had their chances all night long, but they weren’t able to find a way to emerge with a win dropping to 32-22 heading into the All-Star break.
Oubre, specifically, had a tough night. He shot just 4-for-11 for nine points and he missed all four of his 3-point attempts before fouling out in 32:40 of playing time. This was a bit of a far cry from his performance in Monday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers when he had 24 points on 10-for-14 shooting.
“I was in the corner the whole game,” Oubre said after the loss when asked to explain the difference from the Cleveland game to this one. “I gotta wait to get the ball instead of being involved into the action and stuff. It’s always tough for a player to consistently keep a rhythm and find a flow, but at the end of the day, man, I’m out there to help this team so I tried to play defense as best as I possibly could.”
To Oubre’s credit, he did do his best to make an effort defensively against the Heat, but he got into foul trouble and that limited him before he picked up his sixth foul with 1:13 to go in the game.
“Obviously, the refs were just hitting me with the fouls which is—I probably was fouling, probably not,” he explained. “That’s their call. I just try to be energetic and just help in other ways when my offense isn’t flowing, I guess.”
All in all, it was a tough way to go into the All-Star break. The Sixers don’t play again until Feb. 22 when they come out of the break with a home matchup against the New York Knicks. That will be Oubre’s next chance to bounce back as he will use Wednesday’s loss as fuel coming out of the break.
“Definitely decompression, but I’m actually really upset,” Oubre finished about his plans for the break. “This isn’t a good way to go out to a break and I’ll hold this energy, come back, and just run through a wall when I get back so I’m really excited for this second half of the season and finish strong. I’m here to help this team be better than they were last year and in years past so just continue to focus on that.”
